Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Offers Free On-site Collection of Bilge Water from Small Fishing Vessels

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation announced on the 14th that they will provide a free onboard collection service for bilge water from small fishing vessels under 10 tons until September.

Bilge water is only allowed to be discharged into the ocean under appropriate discharge standards and methods. Fishing vessels under 100 tons without oil pollution prevention equipment must discharge pollutants on land through pollutant collection and treatment operators.

If the location of the vessel is within a 90 km round trip distance from one of the 13 pollutant storage facilities nationwide operated by the Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation, the free onboard bilge water collection service can be used. Typically, when processing 1 ton of bilge water, using a fuel tank cleaning company costs about 150,000 KRW, while through the Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation it costs 25,000 KRW. This free collection service allows for cost savings. Last year, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation processed bilge water from a total of 1,378 vessels free of charge.

Fishermen owning vessels under 10 tons can directly discharge bilge water free of charge into bilge water storage containers installed at 10 Suhyup fuel stations and 64 fishing villages including the Yeosu Shindeok Fishing Village Cooperative.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.